Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:33:58.205Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Wood and Paper as Materials for the 21st Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Philip Jones
Affiliation:
[email protected], Imerys, 100 Mansell Ct E, Roswell, Georgia, 30076, United States, 770 331 0325, 770 645 3391
Theodore H Wegner
Affiliation:
[email protected], USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Get access

Abstract

Wood and paper are ubiquitous in societies around the world and are largely taken for granted as part of traditional industries with no new science to learn. Many of the technologies used in the forest products industry have been gained empirically through experience. The complexities of wood are now yielding to newer tools and we are beginning to see how the mechanical, optical and other physical properties of wood are related to hierarchical structures based on 2 to 10 nm diameter several hundred nm long fibers of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). The liberation of these NCC’s is allowing their re-assembly into remarkably strong structures. Examples will be given of the nature of these building blocks and structures assembled from them. Examples will include nanocomposites as well as very high strength “paper”. Paper is another example of a process whereby nanofibrils are released and then re-assembled with the use of “retention, drainage and formation aides” to make substrates we call paper with remarkable strength to weight performance. Other disciplines call this process “self-assembly” and the “aids” as necessary surfactants and additives to control structure and performance. Glossy magazine papers, for example, have approximately 10 micron thick coatings of white minerals and latex binders which are increasingly of nano dimensions. The coatings are assembled in structures to provide optical barrier performance (opacity) as well as controlled ink interaction with the necessary strength to survive printing and handling. These coatings are frequently similar in structure to seashells and, from this knowledge, progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms at play in achieving higher strength coatings. More recently kaolin clays have been introduced with mean crystal thicknesses in the range 20 to 40 nm instead of the usual 100 to 140 nm. These clays show useful strength performance and represent what may be called pragmatic nanoclays. Novel chemistries based on biomimetic learnings are emerging to displace the conventional starch or latex binders. Examples will be given of protocols for moving toward higher strength systems.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Barthelat, F., Phil Trans Roy Soc. A, 365, 2907 (2007)10.1098/rsta.2007.0006Google Scholar
2 Klem, D., Heublein, B., Fink, H-P., Bohn, A., Angew. Chem Int. Ed. 44, 3358 (2005)10.1002/anie.200460587Google Scholar
3 Abe, K., Iwamoto, S, Yano, H, Biomacromolecules, 8(10), 3276, (2008)10.1021/bm700624pGoogle Scholar
4 Saxton, J, “Nanotechnology: The Future is Coming Sooner Than You Think”, Joint Economic Committee, United States Congress, http://huse.gov/jec/ March 2007 p21 Google Scholar
5 Matos, G. & Wagner, L., “Consumption of Materials in the United States 1900-1995”, Annual Rev. of Energy Environ 23, 107 (1998)10.1146/annurev.energy.23.1.107Google Scholar
6 Perlack, R.D., Wright, L.L., Terhollow, A.F., Graham, R.L., Stokes, B.J. & Erbach, D.C., “Biomass as Feedstock for a Biorefinery and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion Ton Annual Supply 2005”, ORNL/TM-2005/66, April 2006 10.2172/1216415Google Scholar
7 Anastas, P. & Warner, J., “Green Chemistry: Theory & Practice”, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, (1998)Google Scholar
8 Venkataramanan, N., and Kawanami, H., “Green Synthetic Protocol for Metal-oxide NanowireWes with Natural Cellulose”, Kagaku, Kogakkai Shuki Taikai Kenkyu Happyo Koen Yoshishu Vol. 38 (2006) p. K323 Google Scholar
9 Kim, J., and Yun, S., “Discovery of Cellulose as a Smart Material”, Macromolecules 2006, 39, p. 42024206.10.1021/ma060261eGoogle Scholar
10 Yun, S-R., Yun, G.Y., Kim, J.H., Chen, Y., Kim, J., Smart Mater. Struct. 18, (024001), 1, (2009)Google Scholar
11 Brown, M. Jr , Czaja, W., Jeschke, M., and Young, D., “Multiribbon Nanocellulose as a Matrix for Wound Healing”, U.S. Patent Application 20070053960, March 2007.Google Scholar
12 Moon, R.J., “Nanomaterials in the Forest Products Industry”, McGraw-Hill Yearbook in Science & Technology, Chicago, IL. 2008, p. 226229.Google Scholar
13 Neville, A.C., “Biology of fibrous composites: development beyond the cell membrane / A. C. Neville”, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 1993, 214p.10.1017/CBO9780511601101Google Scholar
14 Rodriguez, N. de, Thielemans, W., and Dufresne, A., “Sisal cellulose whiskers reinforced polyvinyl acetate nanocomposites”, Cellulose, 13, 2006, p. 261270.10.1007/s10570-005-9039-7Google Scholar
15 Vincent, J., “Survival of the Cheapest”, Materials Today, Elsevier Science Ltd, ISSN: 1369 7021, December, p. 2841. (2002)10.1016/S1369-7021(02)01237-3Google Scholar
16 Xanthos, M., “Modification of Polymer Mechanical and Rheological Properties with Functional Fillers”, Chapter 2 of Functional Fillers for Plastics, Xanthos, M., Ed. Wiley-VCH, GmbH & Co KGaA, 2005, p.21.Google Scholar
17 Samir, M.A.S.A., F, Alloin, and Defresne, A., “Review of Recent Research in Cellulosic Whiskers, their Properties and their Application in Nanocomposites Field”, Biomacromolecules, 5, 2005, p. 612626.10.1021/bm0493685Google Scholar
18 Aizenberg, J., Weaver, J., Thanawala, M., Sundar, V., Morse, D., and Fratzl, P., “Skeleton of Euplectella sp.: Structural Hierarchy from the Nanoscale to the Macroscale”, Science, 309, (July 8), , p. 275278. (2005)10.1126/science.1112255Google Scholar
19 Choi, Y.J., Simonsen, J., J Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 6, (3), 633639 (2006)10.1166/jnn.2006.132Google Scholar
20 Abe, K., Iwatomo, S, Yano, H., Biomacromolecures, 8 (10) 3276 (2008)10.1021/bm700624pGoogle Scholar
21 Hubbe, M.A., Rojas, O.J., Lucia, L.A., Sain, M., BioResources, 3(3) 929 (2008)Google Scholar
22 Henriksson, M., Berglund, L.A., Isaksson, P., Lindstrom, T., Nishino, T, Biomacromolecules, 9(6), 1579, (2008)10.1021/bm800038nGoogle Scholar
23 Podsiadlo, P., Kaushik, A.K., Arruda, E.M., Waas, A.M., Shim, B.S., Xu, J., Nandivada, H., Pumplin, B.G., Lahann, L, Ramamoorthy, A, Kotov, N.A., Science, 318 (Oct 5) 80 (2007)10.1126/science.1143176Google Scholar
24 Pruett, R.J.……Google Scholar
25 Husband, J.C., Preston, J.S., Gate, L.F., Storer, A., and Creaton, P., “The influence of pigment particle shape on the in-plane tensile strength properties of kaolin-based coating layers”, TAPPI J., 5 (12), 38 (2006),Google Scholar
26 Gabriel, J-C. P., & Davidson, P., Top Curr Chem 226: 119172 (2003)10.1007/3-540-36408-0_5Google Scholar
27 Michot, L.J., Bihannic, I., Maddi, S., S, Funari, Bravian, C., Levitz, P., Davidson, P, Proc. Natl. Acad, Sci., 102(44) 16101 (2006)10.1073/pnas.0605201103Google Scholar
28 Vukusic, P., Hallam, B, Noyes, J, Science, 315, (Jan 19) 348 (2007)10.1126/science.1134666Google Scholar
29 American Forest and Paper Association Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance, www.agenda2020.org. Forest Products Industry Technology Roadmap”, July 2006, 78 p.1 Google Scholar